Friday, April 17, 2015

Elite Chinese Female Bodyguards

Meet The Female Bodyguards That Protect China’s Elite

China's booming billionaire population has developed a penchant for personal bodyguards, who often serve as status symbols as well as muscle. Female guards, valued for their covert presence, precision, and elegance, are in particularly high demand at the moment.

VICE China recently visited Beijing's Yun Hai bodyguard training school to see how this fierce fighting force is trained.

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Female Bodyguards Latest Accessory For China's Rich

Number of female recruits training to be bodyguards on the rise

Female bodyguards are in demand among China's elite

Women said to blend in better than male bodyguards

The training is extremely tough and some students quit

Yang Donglan has had an unusual career trajectory.

The
22-year-old once made a living selling cosmetics, but a year ago she
switched her make-up brushes for nunchucks, undergoing a grueling
training program to become a bodyguard.

"I can go out with the bosses and see a lot of things. It's eye-opening," she told CNN.

Yang
completed a course at Tianjiao International Security Academy, a
Beijing-based training camp founded in 2008 to train bodyguards capable
of serving the growing numbers of China's elite.

She
had to crawl through mud in the freezing winter cold, learn to handle a
firearm and stay awake for 24 hours in what she refers to as "devil
training."

"I
didn't do a lot of exercise before and when I first started, I had
trouble breathing while running but I eventually caught up," she said.

Booming Market

Chen
Yongqing, the academy's founder and former bodyguard, said he spotted
an opening and decided to jump on what has become a booming market.

In 2013, China had 317 billionaires (in U.S. dollars), second only to the United States, according to a ranking compiled by the Hurun Report, a Chinese version of Forbes' rich list.

"We
not only give our bodyguards physical training, they are also provided
training on things like wine tasting so that they can communicate
effectively with their bosses," he said.

"They not only serve as bodyguards, but sometimes as a boss' personal assistant."

Chen
says that the number of female students is on the rise, adding that
woman bodyguards have an advantage over their male counterparts,
particularly as the number of female millionaires and billionaires
increases.

"Female bodyguards are more appealing to female employers or family members of male employers," he said.

"It's easier for us to hide. People don't realize we are bodyguards," she says.

"Some
guys are really tall; you can easily tell that he is a bodyguard. Also,
girls tend to be better at taking care of people."

She is reluctant to divulge any details about her own boss, saying "loyalty is everything" in her job.

The
training, which last for three weeks and costs up to 12,800 yuan
($2,100), is not for the faint-hearted and attracts women from different
backgrounds.

Brutal training

Recent
graduates Xu Si and Zhang Min both aspired to join the military when
they were younger, but worked in sales and teaching before they became
bodyguards.

Xu describes the training as brutal. In the first few days, she had to crawl through mud and jump into freezing water.

"I
was trembling, and an 18-year boy quit in the middle," said Xu, adding
that the other female recruits were her biggest encouragement.

Others enroll simply for the experience.

Dong,
a white-collar professional who only gave her family name, told CNN
that she hasn't decided whether she wants to be a bodyguard, but she
believes the experience was valuable, allowing her to learn to be tough
and persistent.

Chen said that many
factors had led to the increase of female bodyguards -- a low
employment rate, good payment rates, and the chance to meet VIPs and
have other eye-opening experiences -- but the most important, Chen said,
was the growing confidence of women in China today.

"Women today are more confident in taking careers that are usually perceived as male-dominated," Chen said.

Contrary to popular belief, Chen says that fewer women quit the course than men.

"Most of our girls stick it out to the end," he said.

Yang
has been working as a bodyguard for almost a year and says she has no
plans to change to a different career despite the risks involved.

"It's my duty to protect and act fast," Yang said. "I think I would stick to the job no matter what. It's a journey." — CNN